This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact was driving the brother-in-laws 1999 Dodge Ram 1500. They stated that while attempting to reverse out of their driveway, the vehicles accelerator pedal self increased to approximately 40 mph although the driver had his foot on the brake pedal the vehicle would not stop. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and hit the house across the street of their home. There were no warning lights which illuminated prior or after. The contacts neighbor experienced a minor injury. The contact stated that even when the vehicle was at a stand still the RPM were extremely high and the vehicle had to be turned off. The vehicle was towed to the owners home and there was a police report filed. A dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was not available.
Vehicle's braking system seemed not to be working properly, taking longer distances to stop. A check of equipment showed all mechanical parts to be fit, and adjusted correctly. Continued to drive vehicle but then had small accident involving braking while going downhill. At this time it was determined I had no brake lights. Diagnostics of the brake light problem determined the combination switch in the steering column was the culprit and had failed, causing loss of brake lights and failure of the transmission to go into coast mode when the brake pedal was applied. This also results in the cruise function to not cancel when brakes are applied. There is no indication of failure through the instrument cluster for this fault. This seems to be a regular problem, as this part is back ordered at the Chrysler dealership. Because of the seriousness of this fault I feel it should be a safety recall, especially since there is no factory part available to repair the condition. My vehicle is still not repaired.
Intermittently vehicle will accelerate suddenly and then stall out and die without warning. Dealer has not been able to duplicate or correct problem. Consumer stated the vehicle has been into dealer at least 5 times.
- Lacrosse, VA, USA
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Cruise control was set at 63mph. Driver applied brakes to deactivate cruise control, and vehicle accelerated suddenly without warning. The vehicle would not shut off. Dealer has been notified.
The cruise control was set while I was driving on the Indiana toll-road, it had been snowing and was somewhat slick. All of a sudden the cruise control kicked the truck into passing gear and increased acceleration. This happened with very little head wind and no incline. When this happened, the trucks rear tires broke loose and I nearly lost control of the vehicle. The Dodge rep. Said " it is suppose to do that."
Cruise control turned on by itself and vehicle continued to accelerate. Consumer quickly placed it into reverse and shut engine off in order to make vehicle to stop moving. Dealer will not acknowledge problem. Dealer can not duplicate problem.
All four rear wheels are bent. The only people until now to touch this vehicle have been Dodge dealerships(sandoval in nm. They also eventually fixed the speed control which would add 5 to 20 mph to a setting at any time. Very dangerous. I have tried to get T a Dodge dealership here (laramie, wy)to look at my rims and they give me the runaround.
While towing a travel trailer (3000 lbs) from san antonio to corpus christi, air temp 85 degrees, overdrive off, distance 130 miles traveled, all of the sudden the torque converter unlocked and the engine revved up, and the transmission started vibrating. I immediately took my foot off the gas and let the vehicle coast untill the torque converter locked again, about two miles and speed dropped to 50 mph. Everthing seemed alright until we traveled another 10 miles down the road and it happened again, it happened a third time about 10 more miles down the road. We towed the trailer exactly 185 miles when we had to stop for gas, tank on empty, and put in 27.5 gallons of gas. I would say the transmission is slipping alot. Stayed two days at the coast and tried to drive back to san antonio, traveled 30 miles to a military base with the engine reving and barely doing 50 mph, left the trailer in storage, filled the tank again, took 8 gallons of gas, drove back to san antonio, any time tried to do over 70 mph to pass slower vehicles the transmission would start vibrating. Took the vehicle to the dealer and explained the problems, they gave the vehicle back to me a week later stating there is nothing wrong with the transmission. Went down to corpus christi on 14 Jul 2000 to retreive the trailer, temp 92 degrees, left the base and traveled 11 miles before the transmission torque converter unlocked again. Could only do 30 mph back to the base or the torque converter would unlock. Took it back again to the dealer and they said "there are no problems with the transmission". all they did was put the computer on it, the pan has not been dropped yet, pressure gagues have not been put on it either. They want me to duplicate the problem, the trailer is 185 miles away and the vehicle can not tow it back here. What do I do"?"
Cruise controladvances on its own without switch being activated. Also, transmission locks and unlocks at any speed and at any time. Vehicle has been taken to the dealer, but they are unable to correct the problems.
While driving on the interstate noticed a foul smell, which seemed to be plastic burning. Consumer cut the air conditioning off, suddenly clouds of smoke poured from under the engine. Consumer pulled over to discover there was a fire coming from under the hood. Also, cruise control and ABS have stopped working, and all 4 tires had to be replaced after 15000 miles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Streator, IL, USA